Rotating Precious Moments

I am a huge fan to rotation in life. I think this fascination with the concept began when I played school netball and we were taught to pivot. Instead of finding it restricting as some players did I found it liberating and all powerful. There is something about planting one foot firmly on the ground to anchor the rest of you that is powerful. The liberation is the ability to draw on that power with the rest of your body to move in any direction you wish. In these moments I understood the freedom and wisdom of being able to rotate. I have used the skill all my life and I would be lost without it. The premise of the rotating netball skill still applies as I do feel it vital to stay ground by planting one metaphoric foot in the earth as my anchor. For me that is my family as they are my anchor. They all contribute to that anchor in different ways and I hope that I help to support their anchors. Being grounded beyond my family relies on a symbiotic relationship with Mother Earth. Remaining in the lived moment affords a wonderful relationship with the changing seasons and the influences they each bring.

With my anchor in place I reflect on my rotational journeys. Life has a way of throwing curve balls at us just as we feel that everything in running to plan. In meeting the curve balls we need to rotate in anticipation of the impact these occurrences will have on us. Being able to rotate keeps us more flexible than if we do not develop this essential life tool. I like to think of the curved balls as the netballs that I can catch, place down my anchor and then spend some time deciding where to put that ball while maintaining some kind of control of the ball itself.

Control is an important part of my rotating strategy as I rarely hand control over to anyone else. Those that know me well know me to be fiercely independent with a deep desire to tread my own path through life. With control comes choices and as I reflect on the curve ball that has presented its own challenge I create time to think where to go next. As a Buddhist I think all these smaller skills are inherent in a faith that rests on the need to be a reflective soul. I am currently responding to a curve ball that I wish had not made its presence known but I cannot control these things and nor should I. How dull would life be if we knew everything in advance?

Living in the moment is sacred to me and I protect that fiercely in life. I see people every day that have not discovered that essence of happiness as they constantly strive for something more and attempt to live in their own future. We all know people like that and they can be quite influential if we are not careful. My rotational skills allow me to hold my own agenda tight just like the body protecting the caught ball in netball.

An ex-boss of mine once said to me that ‘it is as if you see the whole chess game from start to finish move by move.’ The irony of this observation is that I don’t play chess but his point is familiar to me. I do seem to have a natural ability to see happenings through to their natural conclusions and I have a real skill in being able to prioritise and lead projects. This has been very useful in every aspect of both my professional and personal lives but there is a potential contradiction. Surely to have these skills means that I am mapping into the future? I am, of that there is no doubt, but what my boss really meant is where the truth lies. I can map into the future but in doing so I can also consider all the variables or curve balls that might de-rail any project and have contingency plans; rotating skills. I have worked with a lot of people that can project manage very well but come unstuck when the wheels start coming off. In essence they lack rotational skills.

lovely early flowers

I live a much quieter life now but I draw on my rotational skills just as much as I ever did. I support my children into the adult world by staying one step ahead of them and advising them accordingly. In my writing work I keep my personal journey tight and well protected and nowhere is this less important than Scottish island mum. I keep that brand very tight and controlled and free from external influences.

In my creative world I study trends within an inch of their life as this helps me predict new trends and place my creativity and outcomes accordingly.

In rotating I feel the excitement of the challenge as well as the grounding of the anchor so when people ask me how I stay so positive despite a very deliberating illness this is the long answer!